Internal-combustion engine.



. A. E. OSBORN.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

1 APPLICATION FILED DEC. 24. I9I4- 1,279,578. PatentedSept. 24,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

/8 I i I I 55 I I 5/ I I I INVENTOR ATTORNEY FT CE.

ALDEN IE. OSBORN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specificatio otters Patent. Patented Sept. 24, 11918..

Application filed December 24, 1914. Serial No. 878,853.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALDEN E. OsBoRN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of New York, county of New York,'and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being portion of the sleeve valve is subjected to the direct heat of the combustion chamber.

Another object is to provide a slmple'and efiicient arrangement or means for preventing leakage between the inlet and exhaust ports, even when the engine is cold.

- Other objects and advantages of my invention will be set forth hereinafter, and in order that my invention may be thoroughly understood, I will now proceed to describe the same in the following specification and then point out the novel features thereof in appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an en gine constructed in accordance with my invention.

A plan view of one of the sleeve packing rings is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. l of a modified structure which also embodies my invention.

Internal combustion engines of the sliding sleeve valve type have many well known advantages but as hitherto constructed, frequently give trouble in starting when the engine is cold. This difficulty arises from the fact that a material portion of the sleeve valve is always exposed to the direct heat generated in the combustion chamber, the clearances being consequently large and the leakage great.

It has been my aim to overcome the difiiculties above indicated and lower the manufacturing cost while at the same time retaining the advantages of this type of engine.

In the carrying out of my invention I utilized certain of the features which are combined in other relations in U. S. Patents 985,198; 987,164 and 1,011,480 which have prevlously issued to me and in my co-pend lng application, Serial No. 871,865 filed November 13, 1914.

Referring first to the structure of Figs. 1

and 2, the engine here shown comprises a piston 10, a cylinder 11., an interposed sleeve 12 between the piston and the cylinder, a crank shaft 13, a crank 14, a connecting rod 15, and means for operating the sleeve valve.

The sleeve valve 12 is open at its respective ends but has no openings in its side I walls. The piston 10 operates within it and is provided with a piston ring 16 of the usual design, but located at a material distance from the end of the' piston for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

The cylinder 11 has an exhaust port 17 and an inlet port 18, the latter being governed.

not only by the sleeve valve, but also by the rotary valve 19.

The inlet port opens into the cylinder at 20 which is nearer the end of the cylinder than the point 21 where the exhaust port opens into the cylinder. While these ports are shown as located on opposite sides of the cylinder, any suitable circumferential arrangement may be utilized. The cylinder is provided with a pair of spaced annular grooves 22 and 23 in which sleeve packing rings 24 and 25 are disposed. These rings are similar in construction to an ordinary piston ring except that they tend to contract, and instead of being mounted in the moving part, which in this case is the sleeve valve 12, they are mounted in the cylinder 11 which is relatively stationary. The location of the rings is of special significance, particularly that of the ring 25 which is axially disposed between the inlet and exhaust port openings 20 and 21. Its position relative to these openings is, of course, always the same, which could not be true if it was mounted on the, sleeve," and being situated as it'is, it

prevents, at all times, material leakage between the ports. The ring 24 also assists the compression of the engine by still further minimizing leakage between the combustion chamber and the inlet. 7

The sleeve valve 12 is reciprocated by a valve crank 26 which is connected to its outer end by a rod 27.

The valve crank shaft 28 and the rotary valve 19 are operatively connected to the crank shaft 13 of the engine by any suitable 29 shown in comprises mber 24% which is cut member 24; which n. 2 which has a con '0 prevent its getting out ial distance from the outer end of the pie th by ton that it cannot ride out of the sleeve 12 although the sleeve may be relatively short and be overlapped by the piston even when. it is at the inner end of its stroke as shown in l the drawings.

The operation of the engine is as follows: Assuming that the parts occupy the positions in which they are shown in the drawings and that charge has just been. compressed and fired, the piston is then started on its working stroke. At the end of this stroke the sleeve valve 12 which reciprocates at onehalf the speed of the piston, has advanced one-half its stroke and uncovered the admission port 20. This port is closed, however, by the rotary valve 19 which operates at one-quarter the speed of the crank shaft. During the exhaust stroke the sleeve advances to the end of its stroke and opens the port 21, permitting the burnt gases to be forced out During the next stroke of the main piston, whihh is a suction stroke, the rotary valve 19 is moved into its open position and the sleeve is moved bachwardly to cover the exhaust port. The next stroke is the compression stroke which closes the admission port 20 and returns the sleeve to the position shown in Fig. 1. The engine is again fired and the cycle repeated.

Attention is particularly directed to the fact that when the engine is fired and the parts occupy the positions shown in Fig. i, only the end of the sleeve 12 is exposed to the direct heat the combustion chamber. This sleeve is consequently not heated to the same extent as it a material portion of it was exposed at this time.

Instead of the rotary valve 19, a slide valve may be utilized as shown in Fig. 3. A rod 31 is secured to a lateral projection 32 from the slide valve and operates in a sleeve 33 which forms a part of the cylinder in this modification. The slide valve is reciprocated at one-half the speed of the piston and is driven by the connecting rod 31 and a crank 36 from the crank shaft shaft and corresponns to the valve 12 of Fig, l. T e sleeve v his case 28. .1 sleeve valve driven by the same provio th sub- Stlt The slide v a l e in rcierring to the speeds of the reciprocating pistons and valveathe number of strokes in any given period of time is meant and in referring to the speed the rotary valve, its speed "in revolutions is intended.

ll intend that the admission port may be used as an exhaust port and vice versa as this reversed connection of the inlet and ex-- haust is perfectly operative when the direction of rotation of the valve crank shaft is also reversed and is desirable under certain conditions. Thus in the form of my invention shown in F l, the port 21 may be in communication withthe inlet, While port 20 may be for the exhaust gases which can fan through the valve 19.

Various modified structures of my inven tion may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and l. intend that only such limitations be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

' -What claim is:

1. An internal combustion engine com prising a cylinder havinginlet and exhaust ports, a piston, an interposed sleeve valve between the cylinder and piston and terminating within the space defined by the limit of the piston movement, means for moving the sleeve beyond the cylinder ports, whereby the ports open directly into the cylinder, and a second valve for governing one of the ports in conjunction with the sleeve.

2. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports at difierent points in the piston stroke, a piston, an interposed sleeve valve between the cylinder and piston and terminating within the space defined by the limit of the piston movement, and a rotary valve adapted to cooperate with the sleeve valve for governing the inlet port.

3. An internal combustion engine cor. prising a cylinder havino' inlet and exhanst ports different points in the piston stroke, a piston, an interposed sleeve valve between the cylinder and piston and terminating within the space defined by the limit or the piston movement, and a rotary valve rotating t one-quarter the speed, of the piston for cooperating with the sleeve valve to govern the inlet port, said sleeve valve alone being relied upon to open and close the enhaust port.

4. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having longitudinally spaced inlet and exhaust ports and an annular groove in its inner surface, a piston reciprocating in the cylinder, a cyl nder sleeve valve interposed between the cylinder and piston, and stationary packing rings in said annular groove and cooperating with the sleeve valve between the inlet and outlet ports, said valve being adapted to move into and out of the ring.

5. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having longitudinally spaced inlet and exhaust ports, and an annular groove in the inner wall of said cylinder and disposed between the ports, a.

packingringin the groove, and a reciprocating member within the cylinder arranged to move over said ring and across said ports.

6. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having a combustion chamber at one end, two longitudinally spaced ports in said cylinder, a cylindrical reciprocating member within said cylinder, and stationary packing means to retain pressure in said cylinder contracting upon the reciprocating member and located respectively between the combustion chamber and the adjacent port and between said ports.

' 7. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a relatively short sleeve valve therein, a piston in the sleevevalve adapted to overlap the end of the valve at the end of the compression stroke and a piston ring disposed at a material distance from the end of the piston to prevent its riding out of the sleeve valve.

8. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a reciprocating member therein, one or more internal circumferential grooves in said ylinder, a split packing ring in each of said grooves and adapted to bear upon said reciprocating member, and

a second split ring in each said groove surrounding the first ring and adapted to contract said first ring into closer contact with said reciprocating member; and means to prevent said inner and outer rings from turning in relation to each other.

9. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports spaced longitudinally thereof, a rela-,

tively short sleeve valve in the cylinder, a piston in the sleeve valve adapted to overlap the end of the valve at the end of the compression stroke, and means for actuating the one end of the cylinder, inlet and exhaust ports opening into the cylinder at lon i-' tudinall different positions therein, a re atively s ort sleeve valve within the cylinder, a piston in the sleeve yalve adapted to overlap the end of the valve at the end of the compression stroke, and means for actuating the valve to successively uncover said ports in the cylinder, whereby they open An internal combustion engine comdirectly into the cylinder, and a second valve adapted to cooperate with the sleeve valve for governing the port nearer the combustion chamber, said sleeve valve alone being relied upon to open and close the other port.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of Nov., 1914, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALDEN E'. OSBORN.

Witnesses:

R. J. DEARBORN, F. GRAVES. 

